


edges that scratch

by growlery



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4619748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven Reyes started teaching at A. R. K. High School at the start of this academic year. In another life, Bellamy thinks, they might have been friends, if she weren’t quite possibly the most infuriating person he’s ever met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	edges that scratch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kwritten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwritten/gifts).



> for [coldneverbothersdragons](http://coldneverbothersdragons.tumblr.com), as part of the bellamy/raven fic exchange, using this prompt:
>
>> history-teacher Bellamy and physics-teacher Raven. Raven’s class keeps doing large and loud experiments that disrupt Bellamy’s lectures. Raven keeps taking the last of the coffee in the staff room and doesn’t start a new pot. Bellamy pushes for science camp that year to be cancelled and the funds channeled somewhere else. Basically give me background simmering fighting that ends with sloppy sex.
> 
>   
> I didn't manage the sloppy sex, but I hope you like it anyway! title's from beggin for thread by banks. 

"What the fuck did you do," Raven demands.

Bellamy blinks. He was talking to a student. Raven doesn't seem to care; she's just glaring at Bellamy like she wants to set him on fire.

"Give us a minute, Rahul?" Rahul nods, looking between Bellamy and Raven with something like glee. God, his next class is going to be _awful_. "You've got nothing to worry about with your essay, anyway, you're going to do a great job."

"Thanks, Mr B," Rahul says, and ducks out of the classroom.

"Very professional, Reyes," Bellamy says, turning on her the moment the door's closed behind him.

"Oh, I'm unprofessional?" Raven scoffs. "That's rich coming from a guy who got science camp, which I've been planning on my own time for _months_ , by the way, cancelled for a petty feud."

"Don't flatter yourself that this is about you," Bellamy retorts. "The classics fair needed the funding more."

"You really think it's more important that our kids learn about dead white guys than actual practical science?"

"It's cute," Bellamy says, "that you take such an offensively reductive view of the arts. Luckily, the school board doesn't agree with you."

Raven's eyes narrow, but before she can say anything else, the bell for the end of lunch goes. 

"This isn't over," she says, and lets the door slam behind her.

*

Raven Reyes started teaching at A. R. K. High School at the start of this academic year. In another life, Bellamy thinks, they might have been friends, if she weren’t quite possibly the most infuriating person he’s ever met. 

"I thought we had something special, Bellamy," Clarke says, when he's ranting to her in the staff room later. "Did our feud mean nothing to you?"

"I cry myself to sleep every night over the fact that we're no longer enemies," Bellamy tells her, and Clarke nods solemnly.

"You have to feel bad for Raven, though," she says, because Clarke is a terrible friend who refuses to take sides. "The kids are all really disappointed that science camp's not gonna be running any more. I’ve never seen them so excited about something."

"The classics fair needed the funding more," Bellamy starts, and Clarke shakes her head.

"Yeah, of course, and you know I'm the last person who's gonna say the arts are less important, but it still just sucks, you know?"

Bellamy's not going to feel guilty. Bellamy is _not_ going to feel guilty.

*

He's marking homework in his classroom when there's a knock at the door. It's the end of the day, and Bellamy’s students all know they can come to him whenever they have any problems, so he calls out, “Come in!”

It's not one of his students.

"Jaha says science camp's back on," Raven says, after the two of them just stare at each other for a second. "The school’s big enough for the both of them, or something. I tuned out when he started getting into metaphors."

Bellamy smiles despite himself; at least they have something in common. "Well, good. I’m glad."

Raven nods. She's fidgeting with her hands, tapping her good leg against the ground. "Thanks," she says, after a minute. "I know you didn't do it for me, but on behalf of the kids, you know."

Bellamy glances down, clears his throat. "No problem."

"I mean, we're gonna have to work together now," Raven says, wrinkling her nose, " _that’s_ kind of a problem." 

“You might be a pain in the ass, but you’re smart,” Bellamy says. “I think we can make it work.”

*

Their first scheduled planning meeting is during Bellamy’s only free period on a Monday, and it’s after a class which always runs late, so he’s already pretty grumpy when he gets to the staff room. When he gets to the coffee machine, however, there's no coffee left in the pot, and when he throws open the cupboards with just a touch of desperation, there’s no coffee in there, either.

Bellamy whirls around, and there Raven is, drinking the last of it, _again_ , smirking at him.

He swallows his frustration, because he's _not_ going to give her the satisfaction, and goes to sit at what seems to be the designated planning table, diagonally across from her to put as much distance between them as possible. Monty offers him a caffeine tablet, and Bellamy takes it with a grateful nod. It’s nice to be reminded that the rest of the science department isn’t as unreasonable as Raven.

"Now that you've finally deigned to join us," Raven drawls, "can we get started?"

“We’ve got everything on our side planned,” Monty says, glancing at Bellamy, and Bellamy nods.

“I’ve got everything on my side planned, too.”

“It’s just you?”

“I’m working with outside contractors,” Bellamy says, by which he means he’ll rope Octavia and Miller into helping when the time comes.

“Well, then,” Jasper says, looking hopeful, “this shouldn’t be too hard,” and Monty snorts. 

Bellamy quietly agrees. 

*

Raven’s classroom is right next to Bellamy’s. This isn’t usually too much of a problem; her classes are always rowdy, but nothing Bellamy can’t grin and bear. Usually, however, Raven isn't getting her students to do what sounds like trying to actually blow up the school. 

“Aaron,” Bellamy says, through gritted teeth, “could you ask Ms Reyes if she could please keep her class just a little bit quieter?”

Aaron gets up obligingly, but five minutes pass, and he hasn’t returned, and the noise hasn’t abated, either. 

“Someone check Ms Reyes hasn’t eaten Aaron, please?” Bellamy gets a smattering of laughter for that, even though he was totally serious, and Kass volunteers to go next door. 

Neither of them have returned by the end of the class period. Bellamy cannot in good conscience send another student after them, so he just waits, in vague trepidation, trying not to snap at his students whenever the whispering about Raven gets too loud. But then, right on the bell, the door opens, and Kass and Aaron walk back in. Both of them look kind of giddy and delighted, until they catch sight of Bellamy glaring, that is, and their faces drop appropriately. 

“Sorry, Mr Blake,” Aaron says, “Ms Reyes got us both to help with the experiments the seniors are doing.”

“She said to tell you to blame her if we’re in any trouble,” Kass says, glancing at Aaron, and Bellamy sets his mouth in a thin line. 

“Oh, don’t worry,” he says, “I will absolutely blame her for this.”

He heads over to Raven’s classroom after everyone’s got cleared away. The door’s ajar, and he’s about to stomp right in when he hears someone crying. 

“Hey, Rose, it’s okay,” Raven is saying, her voice softer than Bellamy’s ever heard it. “I’ll talk to your mom. We’ll get it sorted out.”

Rose’s shoulders hitch. “But I failed-”

“One test,” Raven says, firm, but still so gentle. “It’s not the end of the world, and you’re still wicked smart, okay?”

“No one says _wicked_ any more, Ms Reyes,” Rose says, but she’s not crying any more, and Bellamy has to look away, take a step back. 

Raven walks out with Rose, locks up her classroom behind her, and jumps when she sees Bellamy leaning against the wall. It doesn’t give him the satisfaction it normally would. 

“Cute,” she says. “Did you want something?”

Oh yeah, Bellamy was – rightfully – pissed at her. “You kidnapped two of my students. You can’t just _do_ that.”

“Sorry,” Raven says, not sounding sorry at all. “You shouldn’t have sent them over to me.”

“I only did it because your students were so loud they were disrupting my class.”

“Well then,” Raven says, smiling sweetly, “Kass and Aaron were probably better off with me, weren’t they?”

“You’re un-fucking-believable,” Bellamy snaps, and Raven says, “Language, Blake,” which is so ridiculous coming from her that he can’t do anything but snort. 

“Are we done here?” Raven asks. “I don’t know about you, but I kind of have a job to do.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” Bellamy says, and Raven shakes her head as she walks past him. 

*

Someone’s written _Mr Blake ♥ Ms Reyes_ in one of the corners of Bellamy’s whiteboard. Bellamy stares at it for a minute, mouth working silently, before he stomps off to the staff room. 

Lincoln looks deeply amused when Bellamy accosts him. "I assure you,” he says, “I had nothing to do with this."

"You've got them doing Much Ado About Nothing," Bellamy says, "you have _everything_ to do with this."

“I don’t see how that follows,” Lincoln says mildly. 

“You’re normalising the harmful idea that two adults who openly argue with each other are actually secretly in love,” Bellamy tells him. He may or may not be quoting one of Octavia’s rants but, whatever, he trusts her when she talks about this sort of thing. “They think I’m Benedick! I am not Benedick.”

“Of course you’re not,” Lincoln says reasonably, “you’re Beatrice.”

Bellamy inhales very deeply. He is not okay with any of this. Sure, Raven’s hot, if you like that sort of thing, and, okay, he maybe does like that sort of thing, and if they weren’t co-workers, and if she weren’t, you know, the bane of his existence, he might think about it. But neither of those things are true, so he doesn’t think about it. 

(Or, at least, he didn’t. It’s a bit harder to stop his mind wandering, these days.)

((Whatever, he is _not_ Beatrice, okay.))

“Can you at least,” he says, “stop encouraging them? It’s- it’s unprofessional.”

“This is the least professional environment I’ve ever worked in,” Lincoln tells him, “but okay. I’ll go clean your whiteboard.”

“ _Thank you_ ,” Bellamy says, and Lincoln pats his shoulder as he leaves. 

*

“No,” Bellamy says, “ _we’re_ using the gym. There’s nowhere else for the antiquities display to go.”

“Tough,” Raven says. “We need it for the project demonstrations.”

“And you can’t just have them in a classroom?”

“Oh, yeah,” Raven says, “because I can really fit a hundred students and their projects in one classroom. Great idea, Blake.”

“We’re just gonna,” Monty says, and gestures towards the door. Bellamy barely notices him and Jasper leave. 

“We can’t make this work if you aren’t willing to compromise,” he says. 

“ _You’re_ not willing to compromise!” Raven retorts, which is a heinous lie, Bellamy has made so many concessions in order for this to work. Raven is just _impossible_ to work with. 

“You know what, this was a stupid idea,” he says. He goes to storm out of the room, but when he tries the door, the handle won’t turn. 

“Oh no,” Monty says, just audible through the glass, “the door’s broken.”

“Monty,” Bellamy growls. 

“We’ll just get the janitor,” Jasper says, already backing away. “You two hang in there, okay?”

Monty and Jasper promptly disappear. Bellamy tries the door again, just to be sure, but whatever they did to the lock has it well and truly jammed. He grits his teeth. 

“Well,” Raven says, “I guess we’re stuck in here until they decide to let us out.” She looks thoughtful. “Probably until we resolve our disagreement?”

“Correct,” comes Monty’s voice, followed by a loud shushing noise that must be Jasper. 

“We’re gonna be stuck here in forever, then,” Bellamy says, and Raven huffs at him. 

“Don’t be so dramatic,” she says. “And, for fuck’s sake, can you sit down? You pacing is not going to help anything.”

“Fine,” Bellamy says, and sits back down across from her. 

Neither of them so much as look at each other for what must be a full minute, and then Raven says, “Did you and Clarke get locked in a classroom, too?”

“Nah,” Bellamy says. “She took me out for a drink, we had way too many beers for a school night, and in the morning, we were friends.”

“Nice,” Raven says, and they both go quiet again, but it’s easier this time, less tense. “You can have the gym if I get all the rooms on the ground floor, including yours.”

“Deal,” Bellamy says immediately. Raven smiles at him, and Bellamy doesn’t think he’s ever seen the full force of it directed at him before. It’s… disarming. He has to look away, swallow, look back up at her. 

“Was that so hard?” she asks, and Bellamy bites back the retort he’s aching to give. They’re trying to, whatever, resolve their disagreement, here; he has to at least try. 

“I guess not,” he says. “I will actually eviscerate you if you destroy my classroom, though.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” Raven says, and it’s Bellamy’s turn to smile. 

“While we’re compromising,” he says, “I promise not to complain about the noise if you promise not to trivialise my subject.”

Raven looks genuinely torn. “Ever again, or just for the summer?”

“Hey, fuck you,” Bellamy says, with none of the usual heat behind it, “history’s really important.”

“Obviously,” Raven says, rolling her eyes, “it’s just cute how flustered you get when I make fun of you.”

“I do not get flustered,” Bellamy says, flustered, and then the full impact of Raven’s words sinks in. He licks his lips; Raven’s eyes follow the movement. “Uh. Cute?”

“Cute,” Raven repeats, and looks down. When she looks back up again, she’s smirking. “For the record, you totally are Beatrice.”

“So _you_ started this,” Bellamy says, and makes a mental note to apologise to Lincoln, later. “I didn’t even think you’d read Shakespeare.”

“ _I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes_ ,” Raven says, and then promptly ruins it by laughing at the look on his face. “Yeah, I have interests outside of science. I can quote Seneca’s tragedies, too, if you want.”

Bellamy’s not sure he would survive that, honestly. “I get it,” he says. He looks down, takes a deep breath, then looks back up. “Do you maybe wanna get a drink, after work?”

Raven droops, just a little, but within a moment, she’s smiling. “So we can be friends in the morning?”

“That wasn’t quite what I had in mind,” Bellamy says, and Raven’s smile turns into something more genuine. 

“Deal,” she says. “Now, how much do you want to fuck with Monty and Jasper for locking us in here?”

“So much,” Bellamy tells her, and Raven’s laughing as they make their way to the door.


End file.
